The present invention relates to a novel .beta.-lactam compound and a method for the preparation thereof. More particularly, the invention relates to a novel .beta.-lactam compound useful as an intermediate in the synthetic preparation of various kinds of organic compounds such as sedatives, herbicides, antibiotics and the like as well as to a method for the preparation thereof in a high yield.
As is known, a .beta.-lactam ring constitutes the principal skeleton in the molecular structure of a large number of antibiotics including penicillin as a typical one to play a core role for the physiological activity of the antibiotic. Accordingly, a great number of .beta.-lactam compounds and methods for the preparation thereof have been heretofore proposed with an object to develop novel antibiotics because development of a novel .beta.-lactam compound having activity as an antibiotic is eagerly desired to solve the problem caused by the appearance of bacterial strains having resistance against conventional antibiotics. On the other hand, .beta.-lactam compounds are highlighted as an intermediate in the synthetic preparation of a polyamide compound owing to the high reactivity of the .beta.-lactam ring with a possibility to give .beta.-amino acid derivatives by the reaction with various compounds having reactivity such as alcohols.
Known prior art methods for the synthetic preparation of such a .beta.-lactam compound include a method in which an isocyanate ester compound is reacted with an alkene. Though advantageous because a .beta.-lactam compound can be obtained in a single-step reaction, this method has a disadvantage that the types of the starting isocyanate ester compound and hence the resultant .beta.-lactam product are under limitations because the method is not applicable with full productivity unless the isocyanate ester compound as one of the starting materials has a strongly electron-attractive group in the molecular structure as in chlorosulfonyl isocyanate and the like.